Wildlife activists have sought curbs and regulations on the Beladakuppe Mahadeshwara Jathra that will take place in the Hediyala range of Bandipur tiger reserve during November.
There are growing concerns over the scale and magnitude of the jathra this year as the authorities had banned the assembly of public and the temple was out of bounds for the devotees in 2020 and 2021 owing the pandemic.
But with the pandemic restrictions eased this year the local villagers supported by the political leadership are expected to make it a grand affair and hence thousands of people are expected to congregate for the jathra of the temple which is hugely popular.
Giridhar Kulkarni, wildlife and conservation activist, said that in 2020 and 2021, the Mysuru district administration had banned public participation in the jathra due to the prevailing pandemic and the imperatives of avoiding crowding. But there was no bar for the priests, temple management committee and temple staff to conduct the rituals in the traditional way and the same protocol should be followed this year as well.
Pointing out that the area is in the core critical tiger habitat of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Mr.Kulkarni said crowd regulation was a must and the district administration should take necessary measures as at Himawad Gopalaswamy Betta where private vehicles are not allowed.
Sources in the Forest Department said on Mahalaya Amavasya about 7,000 devotees had visited the temple.. This has triggered alarm bells as the jathra is bigger and entry of tens of thousands of people would not only be in violation of the law pertaining to wildlife protection and conservation but poses threat to humans in the long run as well.
If wild animals get habituated to human presence, then they could stray into human landscape and escalate the conflict situation which is already high in Hediyala and surrounding regions, argued the activists.
In the past, wildlife conservation NGOs had even struggled to get the temple relocated so that it could be a win-win situation for the devotees as well as conservation. But the attempt failed and the jathra in the core tiger reserve has continued to grow in terms of scale and magnitude over the years.
Echoing similar views other activists, on condition of anonymity, said with elections hardly a few months away political leaders could be competing with each other in donating to and organising the jathra which would be to the detriment of wildlife.
When contacted Ramesh Kumar, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, said they will restrict private vehicles and deploy buses to ferry the devotees and regulate the crowd.
But activists said such restrictions had triggered strong resistance from the local people in the past and without political support, the Forest Department hands will be tied, especially with the impending elections.
